U.S. patent application number 13/305746 was filed with the patent office on 2012-05-31 for network device and network connecting method for supporting power saving mechanism through auto-negotiation of hdmi.
Invention is credited to Yuan-Jih Chu, Ming-Feng Hsu, Liang-Wei Huang, Shieh-Hsing Kuo.
Application Number | 20120137151 13/305746 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46127444 |
Filed Date | 2012-05-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120137151 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Huang; Liang-Wei ; et
al. |
May 31, 2012 |
NETWORK DEVICE AND NETWORK CONNECTING METHOD FOR SUPPORTING POWER
SAVING MECHANISM THROUGH AUTO-NEGOTIATION OF HDMI
Abstract
A network device, for supporting a power saving mechanism
through an auto-negotiation of HDMI, includes a transmitting
circuit and a receiving circuit. The transmitting circuit is
arranged for generating a link pulse signal to a second network
device, wherein the network device and the second network device
perform the auto-negotiation of a network connection by using the
link pulse signal through HDMI in order to support the power saving
mechanism. After the receiving circuit of the network device
receives another link pulse signal transmitted from the second
network device through HDMI, the network device is controlled to be
operated under the power saving mechanism.
Inventors: |
Huang; Liang-Wei; (Hsinchu
City, TW) ; Kuo; Shieh-Hsing; (Hsinchu City, TW)
; Hsu; Ming-Feng; (New Taipei City, TW) ; Chu;
Yuan-Jih; (Hsinchu City, TW) |
Family ID: |
46127444 |
Appl. No.: |
13/305746 |
Filed: |
November 29, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
713/321 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/43635 20130101;
G09G 2330/021 20130101; H04N 21/44231 20130101; H04N 21/4122
20130101; H04N 21/4436 20130101; G09G 5/006 20130101; G09G 2370/12
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
713/321 |
International
Class: |
G06F 1/32 20060101
G06F001/32 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 29, 2010 |
TW |
099141246 |
Claims
1. A network device for supporting a power saving mechanism through
an auto-negotiation (NWAY) of High Definition Multimedia Interface
(HDMI), the network device comprising: a transmitting circuit,
arranged for generating a link pulse signal to a second network
device, wherein the network device and the second network device
perform the auto-negotiation of a network connection by using the
link pulse signal through HDMI in order to support the power saving
mechanism; and a receiving circuit, coupled to the transmitting
circuit, wherein after the receiving circuit receives a second link
pulse signal transmitted from the second network device through
HDMI, the network device is controlled to be operated under the
power saving mechanism.
2. The network device according to claim 1, wherein the
transmitting circuit comprises: a link pulse signal generator,
arranged for converting a first logic level of the link pulse
signal into a first voltage level, and for converting a second
logic level of the link pulse signal into a second voltage
level.
3. The network device according to claim 2, wherein the link pulse
signal is a square wave signal; the first logic level indicates a
first time length, and the second logic level indicates a second
time length being different from the first time length.
4. The network device according to claim 2, wherein the link pulse
signal generator is a digital-to-analog converter (DAC).
5. The network device according to claim 2, wherein a voltage
difference between the first voltage level and the second voltage
level is equal to a voltage amplitude supported by the HDMI.
6. The network device according to claim 1, further comprising: an
echo cancellation circuit, coupled between the transmitting circuit
and the receiving circuit, arranged for performing an echo
cancellation in order to eliminate echo caused by the link pulse
signal of the transmitting circuit.
7. The network device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving
circuit comprises: an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), arranged
for converting a first voltage level of a receipt signal received
by the receiving circuit into a first logic level, and for
converting a second voltage level of the receipt signal received by
the receiving circuit into a second logic level; and an energy
accumulator, arranged for accumulating energy of the receipt signal
and for comparing the accumulated energy with a threshold in order
to eliminate echo caused by the link pulse signal of the
transmitting circuit.
8. The network device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving
circuit comprises: an analog-to-digital converter, arranged for
converting a first voltage level of a receipt signal received by
the receiving circuit into a first logic level, and for converting
a second voltage level of the receipt signal received by the
receiving circuit into a second logic level; and a counter,
arranged for eliminating echo caused by the link pulse signal of
the transmitting circuit with reference to a predetermined time
length.
9. The network device according to claim 8, wherein the
predetermined time length is a time duration starting from when the
link pulse signal is generated by the transmitting circuit to when
the echo caused by the link pulse signal is inputted to the
receiving circuit.
10. The network device according to claim 1, wherein the power
saving mechanism complies with IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient
Ethernet standard (EEE) defined by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (IEEE).
11. A network connecting method, applied to a network device, for
supporting a power saving mechanism through an auto-negotiation
(NWAY) of High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), the method
comprising: generating a link pulse signal to a second network
device, wherein the network device and the second network device
perform the auto-negotiation of a network connection by using the
link pulse signal through HDMI in order to support the power saving
mechanism; and after a second link pulse signal transmitted from
the second network device is received through HDMI, controlling the
network device to be operated under the power saving mechanism.
12. The network connecting method according to claim 11, wherein
the step of generating the link pulse signal to the second network
device comprises: converting a first logic level of the link pulse
signal into a first voltage level, and converting a second logic
level of the link pulse signal into a second voltage level.
13. The network connecting method according to claim 12, wherein
the link pulse signal is a square wave signal; the first logic
level indicates a first time length, and the second logic level
indicates a second time length being different from the first time
length.
14. The network connecting method according to claim 12, wherein a
voltage difference between the first voltage level and the second
voltage level is equal to a voltage amplitude supported by the
HDMI.
15. The network connecting method according to claim 11, further
comprising: performing an echo cancellation in order to eliminate
echo caused by the link pulse signal.
16. The network connecting method according to claim 11, wherein
the step of controlling the network device to be operated under the
power saving mechanism comprises: converting a first voltage level
of a receipt signal into a first logic level, and converting a
second voltage level of the receipt signal into a second logic
level; and accumulating energy of the receipt signal, and comparing
the accumulated energy with a threshold in order to eliminate echo
caused by the link pulse signal.
17. The network connecting method according to claim 11, wherein
the step of controlling the network device to be operated under the
power saving mechanism comprises: converting a first voltage level
of a receipt signal into a first logic level, and converting a
second voltage level of the receipt signal into a second logic
level; and eliminating echo caused by the link pulse signal with
reference to a predetermined time length.
18. The network connecting method according to claim 17, wherein
the predetermined time length is a time duration of the echo caused
by the link pulse signal being inputted to the network device.
19. The network connecting method according to claim 17, wherein
the predetermined time length is a time duration starting from when
a second link pulse signal transmitted by a second network device
to when the receipt signal is received by the network device.
20. The network connecting method according to claim 11, wherein
the power saving mechanism complies with IEEE 802.3az Energy
Efficient Ethernet standard (EEE) defined by the Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] The disclosure relates to a network device for supporting a
power saving mechanism through an auto-negotiation.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] When a first application circuit and a second application
circuit of a network system are connected to each other through a
network medium, the first application circuit and the second
application circuit are not always in a data interchange state. For
example, during a certain period of time, the first application
circuit may continuously receive data from the second application
circuit without transmitting any data to the second application
circuit, or there may be no data transmitted or received between
the first application circuit and the second application circuit.
In order to save power in such a data transmission system, when one
application circuit does not transmit or receive any data, its
corresponding transmitting circuit or receiving circuit should
maintain a power saving mode. In more detail, when there is little
data transmitted between the first application circuit and the
second application circuit, both the first application circuit and
the second application circuit could adopt an energy-efficient
transmission mode, i.e. a data transmission rate with a lower
frequency. The power saving mechanism of the first application
circuit and the second application circuit may not be the same,
however, making the circuits incompatible, or one of the
application circuits may not have any power saving mechanism. For
these reasons, when one of the application circuits (e.g. the first
application circuit) meets the power saving condition (it is not in
the state of receiving data), the first application circuit and the
second application circuit cannot set the receiving circuit of the
first application circuit to enter a low-power mode based on a
predetermined standard procedure.
[0005] Moreover, when the receiving circuits of the first
application circuit and the second application circuit are both in
the low-power mode (a sleep mode, for example), the transmitting
circuit of the first application circuit may transmit a trigger
signal to the receiving circuit of the second application circuit
through the data transmission medium if the transmitting circuit
desires to wake up the receiving circuit of the second application
circuit from the sleep mode. When the trigger signal reaches the
receiving circuit of the second application circuit, however, an
echo may rebound, reaching the receiving circuit of the first
application circuit such that the receiving circuit of the first
application circuit will be erroneously woken up from the sleep
mode by the echo. Since the receiving circuit of the first
application circuit should maintain the sleep mode continuously,
the predetermined standard wake-up procedure of the data
transmission system may have errors when the receiving circuit of
the first application circuit is erroneously woken up by the echo,
and this could influence the flowing data transmission.
[0006] In addition, the power saving mechanism of the conventional
network systems complies with IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient
Ethernet standard (EEE) defined by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (IEEE). The IEEE standard also defines that
the power saving mechanism must be implemented in a control circuit
through an auto-negotiation (NWAY) defined by IEEE. In other words,
in the IEEE standard, a control circuit without the
auto-negotiation cannot execute the power saving mechanism as
defined by IEEE. Network devices supporting High Definition
Multimedia Interface (HDMI) currently fail to support
auto-negotiation. Hence, how to support the power saving mechanism
defined by IEEE through an auto-negotiation of HDMI, and how to
reduce interference caused by echoes have become important issues
to be solved in this field.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0007] It is therefore one of the objectives of the present
disclosure to provide a network device and a method for supporting
a power saving mechanism through an auto-negotiation of High
Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) in order to solve the
above-mentioned problems of the related art.
[0008] With reference to one aspect of the present disclosure, an
exemplary network device for supporting a power saving mechanism
through an auto-negotiation of HDMI is provided. The network device
may include a transmitting circuit and a receiving circuit. The
transmitting circuit is arranged for generating a link pulse signal
to a second network device, wherein the network device and the
second network device perform auto-negotiation of a network
connection by using the link pulse signal through HDMI in order to
support the power saving mechanism. The transmitting circuit is
arranged for generating a link pulse signal to a second network
device, wherein the network device and the second network device
perform the auto-negotiation of a network connection by using the
link pulse signal through HDMI in order to support the power saving
mechanism.
[0009] With reference to another aspect of the present disclosure,
an exemplary network connecting method, applied to a network device
for supporting a power saving mechanism through an auto-negotiation
of HDMI is provided. The method includes the following steps:
generating a link pulse signal to a second network device, wherein
the network device and the second network device perform the
auto-negotiation of a network connection by using the link pulse
signal through HDMI in order to support the power saving mechanism;
and after a second link pulse signal transmitted from the second
network device is received through HDMI, controlling the network
device to be operated under the power saving mechanism.
[0010] A function of launching an auto-negotiation mechanism by
using a self-defined link pulse signal is provided in the present
disclosure. Therefore, a power saving mechanism defined by the
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) can be
supported through HDMI. In addition, an echo cancellation can be
performed in order to eliminate echoes caused by the link pulse
signal, such that erroneous judgment rates can be reduced and the
accuracy of determining the link pulse signal outputted from
another network device can be improved.
[0011] These and other objectives of the disclosure will no doubt
become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading
the following detailed description of the embodiment that is
illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a network device for supporting a
power saving mechanism through an auto-negotiation of HDMI with
reference to a first embodiment.
[0013] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a link pulse signal with
reference to an embodiment.
[0014] FIG. 3 is a diagram of a network device for supporting a
power saving mechanism through an auto-negotiation of HDMI with
reference to a second embodiment.
[0015] FIG. 4 is a diagram of a network device for supporting a
power saving mechanism through an auto-negotiation of HDMI with
reference to a third embodiment.
[0016] FIG. 5 is a diagram of a network device for supporting a
power saving mechanism through an auto-negotiation of HDMI with
reference to a fourth embodiment.
[0017] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for supporting a
power saving mechanism through an auto-negotiation of HDMI with
reference to a first exemplary embodiment.
[0018] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for supporting a
power saving mechanism through an auto-negotiation of HDMI with
reference to a second exemplary embodiment.
[0019] FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for supporting a
power saving mechanism through an auto-negotiation of HDMI with
reference to a third exemplary embodiment.
[0020] FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for supporting a
power saving mechanism through an auto-negotiation of HDMI with
reference to a fourth exemplary embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0021] Certain terms are used throughout the description and
following claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled
in the art will appreciate, manufacturers may refer to a component
by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish
between components that differ in name but not function. In the
following description and in the claims, the terms "include" and
"comprise" are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be
interpreted to mean "include, but not limited to . . . ". Also, the
term "couple" is intended to mean either an indirect or direct
electrical connection. Accordingly, if one device is coupled to
another device, that connection may be through a direct electrical
connection, or through an indirect electrical connection via other
devices and connections.
[0022] Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a network
device 100 for supporting a power saving mechanism through an
auto-negotiation (NWAY) of HDMI with reference to a first
embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the network device 100 may include
a transmitting circuit 110 and a receiving circuit 120. The
transmitting circuit 110 is arranged for generating a link pulse
signal to a second network device 150, wherein the network device
110 and the second network device 150 perform the auto-negotiation
of a network connection by using link pulse signals LP1 and LP2
through High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) in order to
support the power saving mechanism. The receiving circuit 120 is
coupled to the transmitting circuit 110. After the receiving
circuit 120 receives the link pulse signal LP2 transmitted from the
second network device 150, the network device 100 is controlled to
operate under the power saving mechanism. Please note that: in this
embodiment, the power saving mechanism is implemented by a power
saving mechanism complying with IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient
Ethernet standard (EEE) defined by Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (IEEE), but the disclosure is not limited to
this standard.
[0023] Please refer to FIG. 1 again. The transmitting circuit 110
may include a link pulse signal generator 112 for converting a
first logic level (such as the high logic level "1") of the link
pulse signal LP1 into a first voltage level L1, and for converting
a second logic level (such as the low logic level "0") of the link
pulse signal LP1 into a second voltage level L2. In this
embodiment, the link pulse signal generator 112 can be implemented
by a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), but this in no way should
be considered to be a limitation of the present disclosure.
[0024] Please refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a link
pulse signal with reference to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2,
the link pulse signal LP1 is a square wave signal, wherein the
first logic level indicates a first time length T1 (such as, 100
ns), and the second logic level indicates a second time length T2
(such as, 62.5 .mu.s or 125 .mu.s) being different from the first
time length T1. The time length of the link pulse signal LP1 is
equal to 100 ns, and the interval between the link pulse signal LP1
is equal to 62.5 .mu.s or 125 .mu.s. What calls for special
attention is that: the voltage difference between the first voltage
level L1 and the second voltage level L2 is equal to a voltage
amplitude supported by the HDMI, such as 0.2 volts.
[0025] Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a diagram of a network
device 300 for supporting a power saving mechanism through an
auto-negotiation of HDMI with reference to a second embodiment. The
architecture of the network device 300 shown in FIG. 3 is similar
to that of the network device 100 shown in FIG. 1, where the
difference between them is that: the network device 300 further
includes an echo cancellation circuit 340, wherein the echo
cancellation circuit 340 is coupled between the transmitting
circuit 110 and the receiving circuit 120 for performing an echo
cancellation in order to eliminate echoes caused by the link pulse
signal LP1 of the transmitting circuit 110. In this embodiment, the
echo cancellation circuit 340 can be implemented by a hybrid
network device, but this in no way should be considered a
limitation of the present disclosure. Any echo cancellation device
that can be used for eliminating echoes caused by the link pulse
signal LP1 of the transmitting circuit 110 also conforms to the
spirit of the present disclosure. Please note that: the operations
concerning how the hybrid network device eliminates the echo are
well-known to those skilled in the art, and further description is
therefore omitted here for brevity.
[0026] Please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a diagram of a network
device 400 for supporting a power saving mechanism through an
auto-negotiation of HDMI with reference to a third embodiment. The
architecture of the network device 400 shown in FIG. 4 is similar
to that of the network device 100 shown in FIG. 1, where the
difference between them is that: the receiving circuit 420 includes
an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 422 and an energy accumulator
424. The analog-to-digital converter 422 is arranged for converting
a first voltage level of a receipt signal received by the receiving
circuit 420 into a first logic level, and for converting a second
voltage level of the receipt signal received by the receiving
circuit 420 into a second logic level. The energy accumulator 424
is coupled to the analog-to-digital converter 422, and is arranged
for accumulating energy of the receipt signal and for comparing the
accumulated energy with a threshold TH in order to eliminate echoes
caused by the link pulse signal LP1 of the transmitting circuit
110.
[0027] As an example, the energy of the receipt signal received by
the receiving circuit 120 may be accumulated for a period of time
(such as, 100 ns) by the energy accumulator 424. Those skilled in
the art should easily understand that the energy of the echo caused
by the link pulse signal LP1 is smaller than the energy of the link
pulse signal LP2 transmitted from the second network device 150 to
the receiving circuit 120 through HDMI 130. For this reason, when
the accumulated energy of the receipt signal is greater than the
threshold TH, it can be determined that the receipt signal is the
link pulse signal LP2; when the accumulated energy of the receipt
signal is smaller than the threshold TH, it can be determined that
the receipt signal is the echo caused by the link pulse signal LP1.
Therefore, the interface of the echo caused by the link pulse
signal LP1 can be reduced and the accuracy of determining the link
pulse signal LP2 can be improved.
[0028] Please note that: in this embodiment, the receipt signal
first passes through the analog-to-digital converter 422 and then
reaches the energy accumulator 424, i.e. the energy accumulator 424
is disposed behind the analog-to-digital converter 422; but the
present disclosure is not limited to this only. In other
embodiments, the receipt signal can first pass through the energy
accumulator 424 and then reach the analog-to-digital converter 422,
i.e. the energy accumulator 424 can be disposed ahead of the
analog-to-digital converter 422.
[0029] Please refer to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a diagram of a network
device 500 for supporting a power saving mechanism through an
auto-negotiation of HDMI with reference to a fourth embodiment. The
architecture of the network device 500 shown in FIG. 5 is similar
to that of the network device 400 shown in FIG. 4, where the
difference between them is that a receiving circuit 520 of the
network device 500 includes an analog-to-digital converter 522 and
a counter 524. The analog-to-digital converter 522 is arranged for
converting a first voltage level of a receipt signal received by
the receiving circuit 520 into a first logic level, and for
converting a second voltage level of the receipt signal received by
the receiving circuit 520 into a second logic level. The counter
524 is coupled to the analog-to-digital converter 522, and is
arranged for eliminating echoes caused by the link pulse signal LP1
of the transmitting circuit 110 with reference to a predetermined
time length. Please note that: in this embodiment, the
predetermined time length may be a time duration starting from when
the link pulse signal LP1 is generated by the transmitting circuit
110 to when the echo caused by the link pulse signal LP1 is
inputted to the receiving circuit 520. For example, the signal
transmission path between the transmitting circuit 110 and the
receiving circuit 520 can be viewed as a fixed distance, and thus
the time duration of the echo caused by the link pulse signal LP1
being inputted to the receiving circuit 520 can be viewed as a
fixed value. For this reason, the timing of the echo caused by the
link pulse signal LP1 being inputted into the receiving circuit 520
can be predicted or estimated in advance, and thus the receiving
circuit 520 can decide not to judge during the timing that the echo
may be caused by the link pulse signal LP1, thereby avoiding the
effect of the echo caused by the link pulse signal LP1. This in no
way should be considered a limitation of the present disclosure. In
other embodiments of the present disclosure, the predetermined time
length may be a time duration starting from when a second link
pulse signal LP2 transmitted by a second network device 150 to when
the receipt signal is received by the receiving circuit 520 of the
network device 500. For example, because the interval between the
link pulse signals LP2 is a fixed value, the timing when the second
network device 150 outputs the next link pulse signal LP2 can be
predicted or estimated by the receiving circuit 520 after the first
link pulse signal LP2 is received by the receiving circuit 520.
Therefore, the receiving circuit 520 can decide not to judge during
the timing when the link pulse signal LP2 may occur in order to
improve the accuracy of determining the link pulse signal LP2.
[0030] Please note that: in this embodiment, the receipt signal
first passes through the analog-to-digital converter 522 and then
reaches the counter 524, i.e. the counter 524 is disposed behind
the analog-to-digital converter 522, but the present disclosure is
not limited to this only. In other embodiments of the present
disclosure, the receipt signal can first pass through the counter
524 and then reach the analog-to-digital converter 522, i.e. the
counter 522 can be disposed ahead of the analog-to-digital
converter 522.
[0031] The abovementioned embodiments are presented merely to
illustrate practicable designs of the present disclosure, and in no
way should be considered to be limitations of the scope of the
present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that
various modifications of the network devices 300-500 shown in FIG.
3-FIG. 5 may be made without departing from the spirit of the
present disclosure. For example, the network devices 400 and 500
shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 can be arranged or combined randomly
into a new varied embodiment, which also belongs to the scope of
the present disclosure. In other embodiments of the present
disclosure, the receiving circuit may include both the counter and
the energy accumulator.
[0032] Please refer to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a
method for supporting a power saving mechanism through an
auto-negotiation of HDMI with reference to a first exemplary
embodiment. Please note that the following steps are not limited to
be performed with reference to the exact sequence shown in FIG. 6
if a roughly identical result can be obtained. The method may
include, but is not limited to, the following steps:
[0033] Step S600: Start.
[0034] Step S610: Generate a link pulse signal to a second network
device, wherein the network device and the second network device
perform auto-negotiation of a network connection by using the link
pulse signal through HDMI in order to support the power saving
mechanism.
[0035] Step S620: After a second link pulse signal transmitted from
the second network device is received through HDMI, control the
network device to be operated under the power saving mechanism.
[0036] Those skilled in the art can readily understand how each
element operates by combining the steps shown in FIG. 6 and the
elements shown in FIG. 1, and further description is omitted here
for brevity. Please note that the step S610 is executed by the
transmitting circuit 110, and the step S620 is executed by the
receiving circuit 120.
[0037] Please refer to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a
method for supporting a power saving mechanism through an
auto-negotiation of HDMI with reference to a second exemplary
embodiment. Please note that the following steps are not limited to
be performed with reference to the exact sequence shown in FIG. 7
if a roughly identical result can be obtained. The method may
include, but is not limited to, the following steps:
[0038] Step S700: Start.
[0039] Step S710: Generate a link pulse signal to a second network
device, wherein the network device and the second network device
perform the auto-negotiation of a network connection by using the
link pulse signal through HDMI in order to support the power saving
mechanism.
[0040] Step S720: After a second link pulse signal transmitted from
the second network device is received through HDMI, control the
network device to be operated under the power saving mechanism.
[0041] Step S730: Perform an echo cancellation in order to
eliminate echo caused by the link pulse signal.
[0042] Those skilled in the art can readily understand how each
element operates by combining the steps shown in FIG. 7 and the
elements shown in FIG. 3, and further description is therefore
omitted here for brevity. Please note that the step S710 is
executed by the transmitting circuit 110, the step S720 is executed
by the receiving circuit 120, and the step S730 is executed by the
echo cancellation circuit 340.
[0043] Please refer to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a
method for supporting a power saving mechanism through an
auto-negotiation of HDMI with reference to a third exemplary
embodiment. Please note that the following steps are not limited to
be performed with reference to the exact sequence shown in FIG. 8
if a roughly identical result can be obtained. The method may
include, but is not limited to, the following steps:
[0044] Step S800: Start.
[0045] Step S810: Generate a link pulse signal to a second network
device, wherein the network device and the second network device
perform the auto-negotiation of a network connection by using the
link pulse signal through HDMI in order to support the power saving
mechanism.
[0046] Step S820: After a second link pulse signal transmitted from
the second network device is received through HDMI, control the
network device to be operated under the power saving mechanism.
[0047] Step S830: Convert a first voltage level of a receipt signal
into a first logic level, and convert a second voltage level of the
receipt signal into a second logic level.
[0048] Step S840: Accumulate energy of the receipt signal, and
compare the accumulated energy with a threshold in order to
eliminate echo caused by the link pulse signal.
[0049] Those skilled in the art can readily understand how each
element operates by combining the steps shown in FIG. 8 and the
elements shown in FIG. 4, and further description is therefore
omitted here for brevity. Please note that the step S810 is
executed by the transmitting circuit 110, the step S820 is executed
by the receiving circuit 420, the step S830 is executed by the
analog-to-digital converter 422, and the step S840 is executed by
the energy accumulator 424.
[0050] Please refer to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a
method for supporting a power saving mechanism through an
auto-negotiation of HDMI with reference to a fourth exemplary
embodiment. Please note that the following steps are not limited to
be performed with reference to the exact sequence shown in FIG. 9
if a roughly identical result can be obtained. The method may
include, but is not limited to, the following steps:
[0051] Step S900: Start.
[0052] Step S910: Generate a link pulse signal to a second network
device, wherein the network device and the second network device
perform the auto-negotiation of a network connection by using the
link pulse signal through HDMI in order to support the power saving
mechanism.
[0053] Step S920: After a second link pulse signal transmitted from
the second network device is received through HDMI, control the
network device to be operated under the power saving mechanism.
[0054] Step S930: Convert a first voltage level of a receipt signal
into a first logic level, and convert a second voltage level of the
receipt signal into a second logic level.
[0055] Step S940: Eliminate echo caused by the link pulse signal
with reference to a predetermined time length.
[0056] Those skilled in the art can readily understand how each
element operates by combining the steps shown in FIG. 9 and the
elements shown in FIG. 5, and further description is therefore
omitted here for brevity. Please note that the step S910 is
executed by the transmitting circuit 110, the step S920 is executed
by the receiving circuit 520, the step S930 is executed by the
analog-to-digital converter 522, and the step S940 is executed by
the counter 524.
[0057] Please note that the steps of the abovementioned flowcharts
are merely practicable embodiments of the present disclosure, and
in no way should be considered to be limitations of the scope of
the present disclosure. These methods can include other
intermediate steps or several steps can be merged into a single
step without departing from the spirit of the present
disclosure.
[0058] The abovementioned embodiments are presented merely to
illustrate technical features of the present disclosure, and in no
way should be considered to be limitations of the scope of the
present disclosure. In summary, a function of launching an
auto-negotiation mechanism by using a self-defined link pulse
signal is provided in the present disclosure. Therefore, a power
saving mechanism defined by the Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (IEEE) can be supported through HDMI. In
addition, an echo cancellation can be performed by using an echo
cancellation circuit in order to eliminate echoes caused by the
link pulse signal and reduce erroneous judgment rates. The accuracy
of determining the link pulse signal outputted from another network
device can be improved by using the counter and the energy
accumulator.
[0059] Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous
modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made
while retaining the teachings of the disclosure.
* * * * *